Business Beat: June 9, 2010

Female business leaders listen to U.S. Sen. Kit Bond speak at a recent Women's Business Conference in Columbia.

On this week’s Business Beat from KBIA: The University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business appoints a new dean. Plus, Democrats propose raising the state’s cigarette tax. And, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond attends a Women’s Business Conference. Hosted by KBIA’s Courtney Flatt.

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After 20 years with the same dean, the University of Missouri’s Trulaske College of Business will start next school year with a new face at the helm. And the college didn’t take replacing former dean Bruce Walker lightly. Walker announced his retirement last October, and the college recently selected his successor. KBIA’s Stuart Downing caught up with new dean Joan Gabel and has this report.

Missouri lawmakers this year made deep cuts to the state budget that takes effect next month. They had to slash money for many social services and for various educational programs, including Parents as Teachers and Career Ladder. Governor Jay Nixon has indicated he may slice up to 350 million dollars more when he signs the budget into law. Fellow Democrats have proposed ways to keep the budget-cutting knife out of Nixon’s hand by enhancing revenue. One common suggestion is raising Missouri’s cigarette tax. But as Marshall Griffin reports from Jefferson City, that’s not as easy as it sounds.

U.S. Sen. Kit Bond last week attended a Women’s Business Conference in Columbia. Bond formerly chaired the Senate Small Business Committee. He says female-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial areas in the U.S. But, Bond says, Washington is not making it easy for these businesses to thrive.